


Is There an Elephant in the Room?

by Sunechirei



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Bisexual Male Character, Dramedy, F/M, Gay, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Office Romance, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Sora/Kairi - Freeform, Unrequited Namine/Roxas, roxas/axel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9455660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunechirei/pseuds/Sunechirei
Summary: Roxas Strife doesn't know what he wants. He's spent his entire life believing it was his duty to take over his dad's company after high school. But when he finally starts, he realizes that maybe he's gotten in over his head. Not because the work is difficult -- he's been training for that since he was a kid. It's more there's a certain red-headed genius who thinks that making Roxas' life difficult is highly entertaining.





	1. Oh Joy, I graduated

**Author's Note:**

  * For [withnospaces](https://archiveofourown.org/users/withnospaces/gifts).



> I wrote this so long ago. It was my first real work, my first long work, and still, to this day, one of my favorite stories. I posted it on Fanfiction. net all those years ago and decided to migrate it over here. I would post it as-is, but I think I'm going to do some edits. I mean, I was sixteen when I wrote this originally. It's been six years. I might as well update the writing a bit. Fix some of the mistakes I've wanted to fix.
> 
> As a note, I am turning this into an original story. They are...the same? Not really? It's hard to explain. 
> 
> But! I'm excited to be getting into fanfiction again after a five year hiatus, and I'll be posting this one or two chapters a week until it's all the way up. Please don't read the story on ffnet until it's all the way up here. I mean, I can't stop you if you want to, but it's more fun if you don't :) At least, for me. Possibly torturous for you :P
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated, and I can't wait to see what you think!
> 
> ~Sune
> 
> PS You're going to get my commentary as I revise this. I haven't read the fanfic version in years. Also, I'm still figuring out AO3 and how to post. I apologize if something is off!

“As of today, we are no longer seniors at Twilight Prep, but newcomers, clambering into the world of adults. Class of 2010, I am proud to say, we have finally graduated!”

My classmates – a hearty band of fifty – cheered and we all threw up our caps. I cringed, but joined in on the celebration. It was a once in a life-time moment. High school graduation! Greatest moment of our lives, right? The girl sitting next to me, who I’d had a few classes with, hugged me. I swear my arms were like limp noodles, hugging her back. 

The band burst into song. All around me, my classmates picked up their caps, awards, and diplomas. We marched out, one by one, in a nice neat line. I followed, conflicted about not waking up at six, staying up all night to finish mounds of homework, or dealing with insane teachers who thought our souls belonged to the school. The freedom was liberating in a way, yet, at the same time, I knew I’d miss it.

High school had been fun.

If you took away all the school part.

The moment I escaped from the hall of graduation, I broke from the crowd, yanked off my stupid gold graduation gown, and messed up my tamed, blond hair. Mom had decided I needed to look my best, and that meant gelling the hell out of my spiky hair.

I swear she did it just to piss me off.

I searched for my best friends, determined to get out of there before Mom dragged me off to a family lunch. We had a fun party waiting for us, and I was not about to give it up to watch Dad work and Mom interrogate me about my summer plans. 

“Roxas!”

I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Hayner’s voice. I turned, slinging my gown over my shoulder. He still wore his, but it didn’t look nearly as stupid on him as it did on me.

Kinda.

“Dude, why the long face?” he asked when he reached me. People passed by us and waved. I waved back, wondering how many of them I’d see outside of a class reunion. They were all headed off to college, and if we’d learned anything from the upperclassmen, things changed with college.

“I wouldn’t call my face ‘long,’” I said, tapping my chin with my pointer finger. “More, round and joyful.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. You’ve been gloomy since we got here. We graduated!”

“Yes. We did. And I’m going to have a great time working for my dad while you, Pence, and Olette traverse off into college land without me,” I muttered. 

“Oh come on,” he said, placing one hand on my shoulder, “inheriting the most successful hotel business in the world from your father can't be that bad.” He laughed and shook his head, like I was stupid for looking down on my future.

I was.

Which was so not the point.

I didn’t actually look down on it. More…regretted my decision not to accept the college acceptances. It wasn’t like I _couldn’t_ go to college, and it certainly wasn’t like my parents forced me into this. I just…figured it was the best option for me. I had nothing else in life I wanted to do.

I wasn’t about to try and explain this to Hayner. He’d lived his whole life buried in computers. Even if he didn’t act like it, he was smart. And good with 1’s and 0’s. 

“Hayner! Roxas!” Olette, my cheerful and optimistic friend, hurried over to us with our other friend, Pence, trailing behind her. I was surprised she was allowed to leave already. Normally the valedictorian of Twilight Prep was forced to shake hands with all the donors and alum. “You’re not going to believe what just happened.”

“Yeah. Totally unbelievable,” Pence muttered, eyes trained to the floor with his hands in his pockets.

“What?” I eyed Pence. He was always the quiet one, but he looked like death had warmed over.

Olette grabbed my hands, eyes gleaming. “One of the alums who came to congratulate me on my speech runs a summer internship program at MT University. He said he had a student drop out, and offered me a position instead. I’m leaving in three days.” Olette squealed. 

I was couldn't move. Three days? I thought I had at least another two or three months before college ate her.

Any ounce of glee I had from graduation fever vanished.

Olette took a step away and crossed her arms. “What got up your asses?” Hayner laughed nervously.

“That’s really…great, Olette,” he began, “but-”

“But what?”

Hayner rolled his eyes. “We didn't know that you were disappearing so soon. It's kind of a shock.” He trailed off, looking downcast. 

I wasn’t too shocked that Hayner was the least happy of us. He’d been crushing on Olette for the past five years, when she transferred to our school. MT University was two thousand miles away from here, and two thousand five hundred from Hayner’s destination of choice. 

She’d be the furthest from Pence, though. Granted, none of us were going to be close to him. He was hopping across the pond, as they said over there. Nothing like moving to a foreign country for pre-med, right?

“Are you an idiot, Hayner?” Olette laughed. “I thought I could spend some more time with you guys too. But eventually, we're all going to have to go our separate ways; why not start when you can't change your mind? Besides, we'll always have our memories of each other, right? Why do you think I take so many pictures?”

I rolled my eyes. Olette and her speeches. Always so sappy. Her graduation speech was no better. Our memories are the most important thing, and friendship will prevail as long as you hold onto what truly makes you happy!

Hayner ate it up every time. Pence and I exchanged amused glances.

My pathetic friend smiled and pulled Olette into a surprising hug. “Thanks. You’re right.”

Pence laughed. “You know, we shouldn't be complaining at all. Roxas is the one who has to watch us leave, right Roxas?” I just smiled, silently cursing Pence for putting the spotlight back on me.

“Why aren't you saying anything?” Hayner asked, letting go of Olette. “Is the mighty Roxas sulking?” I punched him in the arm.

“No, I'm reminiscing. There's a difference.” Hayner rubbed his arm and punched me back.

“Both are such girlish qualities, dork.”

“Well then, I'm not surprised you have them.” Scoffing, Hayner shoved me, and I nearly crashed into the wall, but I was laughing.

Olette sighed. “So, Pence, what are your plans for this summer?” Pence fidgeted a bit.

“Um.... I think that since you're going to be gone, that I'll probably spend the last few months of freedom staying with my grandparents so I can get over culture shock before class starts.” He laughed nervously, glancing at me and Hayner. “Don't get me wrong guys, you're my best friends, but without Olette, it's hard to control you two.”

Of course. Ten minutes into being a high school grad and my friend group of five years was breaking up. The only thing that could make this worse was….

“Roxas, there you are.”

I flinched. So much for getting out of here before we were getting lunch. I rolled my eyes at my friends and turned to face Mom, who was standing with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. 

“Hey. Yeah. I was going to-”

“Try and escape so I wouldn’t drag you to lunch?” Her scowl shifted to a small smile. “Nice try.” She grabbed me and hugged me tighter than she had in years. I could barely breathe. “I can’t believe you survived high school.”

I struggled against Mom's death grip. “Stop it! You're going to make me the laughing stock of the school.” My face was hot with embarrassment by the time I got away.

“You don’t go to school here anymore,” Mom reminded me, brushing hair out of my face. I batted her hand away.

“It's called the internet.”

“Dude, who would post a picture of _this_ in our former study group?” Hayner asked, holding out his phone. He’d snapped a picture of the embarrassment, and went to hit send. I snatched the phone from him before he could, and deleted the picture.

“You would.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. You guys can bother Roxas later. Right now, I need him to stop hiding from his parents.” She placed a hand on my back. “Come on, Dad’s waiting.”

I tossed Hayner his phone and waved goodbye to my friends. “See you guys at the party later?”

“Yup,” Olette replied. 

With that, I followed Mom out of the school for the last time.

* * *

Hayner hadn’t texted me.

The bastard.

We had a deal. Any time my parents dragged me off to a family lunch, or his grandparents did the same to him, we didn’t abandon each other. Even if it was just a message or two, we were there. 

It wasn’t that I hated my parents. Mom basically raised me by herself, since Dad was at work all the time, but she sometimes seemed to forget that I was eighteen. I didn’t need a babysitter anymore. I didn’t need to live at home anymore, but she wanted me to.

And Dad....

Dad worked all the time.

“So, how do you feel?” Mom asked, stabbing at her salad. She and Dad sat across from me, Mom asking me questions, and Dad staring at his phone. And they said millennials were obsessed….

“It feels…nice,” I said. If nice meant, ‘screaming internally because I was an hour out of graduation and all my friends were abandoning me while I was stuck working for my anti-social, work-a-holic father.’ 

I tried to smile to keep them from seeing my panic.

“That’s great,” Mom said. She nudged Dad and he looked up from his phone.

“Yes. Great.” He sounded so interested. Like me in my history classes.

Hayner and I could never figure out how Dad ended up in charge of such a successful business. He barely spoke, and he definitely didn’t have a friendly demeanor of a good businessman. 

Mom nudged Dad again, and then snatched his phone when he shrugged her off. It was kind of funny to see him stare at his hands, and then slowly resign to the idea of socializing with his son. Granted, he wasn’t always like this. I had a feeling Mom had dragged him out of an important meeting, and his second-in-command was giving him a rundown of it. 

My phone buzzed. At first I was hesitant to answer it, since Mom was not about taking my phone either. But she was focused on Dad, so I took a peek. It was from Hayner.

_[Dude im so bored! Pence is tryng to lctre us about why we shouldnt drnk. I mean serusly? What's a party w/out alcehol.]_

I snorted, but went silent when Mom shot me a quizzical stare. Smiling, I picked up the desert menu to peruse while I waited for lunch to arrive.

_[A safe party. I'm gonna have to agree with Pence on this one. Don't even think about bringing anything like that to our party. If Olette doesn't kill you, I will.]_

_[Ur not serious right?]_

_[Depends on my mood when lunch is over. And learn to spell.]_

“Roxas, please don’t make me take your phone away too,” Mom warned. I smiled sheepishly and slipped my phone in my pocket. It buzzed again. “I have a hard enough time getting you two away from work and school without your stupid phones involved.”

“I do believe they’re called ‘smart phones,’ actually,” Dad mused. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Mom scowled. Dad’s sass didn’t come out very often. That was always Mom’s job. But when it did, she never scolded him for it. I think it entertained her as much as it did me.

Instead she turned to me. “So, what are your plans for the summer? Are you staying around here, or going out with your friends? I think you should go on vacation somewhere. I’m sure Olette would be able to plan something. She’s so smart. Pence too. Just…make sure Hayner doesn’t hurt anyone. Or himself.”

This was exactly what I didn’t want to talk about. I shrunk down in my seat. “Actually…Olette and Pence are leaving in a few days. Change of plans and all that.”

I didn’t like the look Mom and Dad were giving each other. They had these moments, these silent conversations, that never ended well for me. My phone buzzed. I wanted to check it, but was afraid of what Mom would do.

“You guys alright there?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. 

“Fine,” Mom said after a moment. “Just…well….”

“Since your friends aren’t going to be around, why not start work now?” Dad asked. He leaned forward and placed his chin in his hands. “The two months was so you could say goodbye to your friends.”

Oh, I should have expected that. Honestly, it hadn’t even crossed my mind, but dammit, it should have. 

“Uh, no,” I said. Anger rose in the pit of my stomach. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I didn’t agree to that. We said I’d start in August. It’s not August yet.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the anger was because of Dad’s suggestion, or because I was upset at Olette and Pence for abandoning Hayner and me.

“Actually,” Dad said, “my wording was, ‘when your friends leave.’ August happened to be that month. Now it’s not. I’ll talk to the board. They won’t mind if you start early. You can come in tomorrow to talk about it.”

My heart sunk. “Hayner-”

“Roxas, I don’t think spending an entire summer alone with Hayner is a good idea,” Mom said. 

I was not in the mood for this. I stood and grabbed my jacket, wanting to get out of there. “I have to go. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Roxas!” Mom exclaimed, standing up too, but Dad grabbed her arm. She glared at him. “Cloud, let me go.”

He shrugged. “Please don’t stay out late,” he said.

I scowled. I was eighteen. I’d do what I wanted. Without another word I stormed out of the restaurant, wanting nothing more than to have fun with my friends.

Before I got to my car, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Hayner:

_[Bring the alcohol.]_

* * *

I’d calmed down by the time I got to Pence’s house. I knew it wasn’t the idea of starting work tomorrow that got to me. Dad must have guessed it too, because he normally didn’t let me leave that easily. 

I lay my head on the steering wheel. 

Everyone said high school graduation was a great moment. They didn’t talk about the regrets, and they definitely avoided talking about their friends moving away. I hadn’t exactly prepared myself for this.

I didn’t think I’d have to yet.

After a good minute, I got out of the car and trudged to Pence’s door. I’d barely knocked when it opened. Hayner stood in the doorway, holding an unopened can of beer. We didn’t say a word. We didn’t have to. 

He handed it to me and let me inside.

Pence and Olette were sitting in the living room, surprisingly also with alcohol. It wasn’t like them normally. They were too much about being good underage citizens, and alcohol was bad for your brain.

I sat next to Pene. Hayner sat next to Olette. We didn’t speak for almost five minutes before Olette stood up, fist clenched, eyes on fire.

“Why are we moping? What happened to the excitement from yesterday?” Then, to all of our surprise, she grabbed a beer can and chugged it. 

I almost dropped my own.

When she was done, she cheered. “Alright! We have Beth’s party in an hour, and then we have three days to tear up the town! Let’s get out of these stupid graduation clothes and head out.”

I couldn’t stop the laughter. Pence and Hayner soon joined me, and Olette giggled, falling back onto the couch. 

Right then, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I wouldn’t really be free for those three days. Some of it, sure, but I had work to do.

Because Mom and Dad were right. Hayner was an awesome guy, but a whole summer of just him would drive me crazy.

I was the first to stop laughing. I stared out the window, out into the street. There were little kids running around, screaming at each other. I was trying my best not to think about when the four of us were kids. What kind of insanity we got into. I tried not to think about how that was all going away.

That was all going to change because of graduation.

But that was tomorrow me’s problem. Today me was going to have fun and celebrate the fact that – dammit – we’d graduated.


	2. In Which I Meet My Doom in an Elevator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've decided to try and post a chapter a day for a week. Sounds like fun, right?
> 
> This chapter made me realize a lot of things about my writing back when I was a wee child. For one thing, whenever I had an issue with the story, like a continuity error, or a plot point that didn't make sense, I'd almost always comment on it in the narrative. I also enjoyed over explaining things that didn't need it.
> 
> Anyway, this is actually really hard for me to revise. I didn't think it would be, but I keep wanting to insert the original version's story, characters, and plot, when...well, that wouldn't make sense. 
> 
> I won't ramble too much. Here's chapter 2!

_What is he listening to?_

The elevator was taking its sweet time. I stared up at the number, watching it dip from seven, to six, stopping at five. I decided not to groan, even though I was sure the asshole standing next to me wouldn’t have heard it. I doubt he’d hear a bomb go off with his music that loud. I glanced up at him, and I do mean up. I’d never met a guy that tall in my life. He must have been at least 6’4, lanky, with flaming red hair.

He wasn’t wearing a suit.

An odd site for Dad’s office.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. He moved, footsteps in time with the music. I considered waiting for the next elevator. It wasn’t like I hated the guy – I didn’t know him. But his music was loud. And his sea-green eyes wouldn’t stop staring at me.

Unfortunately, I was running late for the meeting with my dad, so I sighed, and joined the strange red-headed man. He watched me the entire time. I even felt his eyes when I turned away and pressed the button for floor thirteen.

It was strange.

We were alone. The doors closed and jerked up. Shitty elevator music played. I glanced up at the ceiling with a frown, wondering what Dad was thinking. But the man’s eyes were still on me. I tried to ignore him, and the unsettling atmosphere settling in.

I could survive the thirteen-story climb.

Apparently, he couldn’t.

He yanked out his headphones and turned off the music. I almost sighed in relief. He didn’t give me time. “Well this is an uncomfortable situation.” I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me, or just really blunt. I rolled my eyes. The guy was examining me again. I tried not to look at him. “You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” I didn’t answer. “What’s your name?”

I finally turned to look at him, only to realize his face was an inch from mine. Startled, I stepped back. “Roxas Strife. Who are you?”

He laughed. “The boss' son, huh? No wonder you look familiar. You’re the spitting image of him. Act the same too. All quiet and sulking.”

I flushed. I was not like Dad. Okay, sure, I had his blond hair and blue eyes, but everyone always said I was more like Mom. “I’m not sulking. I’m tired.” And maybe a little hung over. Olette had gone all out at the party. It was hard not to get caught up. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Which question, Roxie?”

Did he…just…? I groaned. This was getting ridiculous. “Don't call me that.”

“Aw, does the spoiled rich boy not want a nickname? How adorable,” the man cooed. I wondered what was wrong with him. For one thing, I wasn’t spoiled, and for another, it wasn't _adorable_ that I didn’t want a nickname.

I took a deep breath. I was never going to see this guy again, so there was no point in engaging with him. I faced the door. We were almost to the top. I never thought Dad’s elevators were slow until today. You’d think he’d be able to get that fixed, seeing how much money he was worth.

“Roxie.” The guy was not about to leave me alone, apparently. “Roxie. Hey, Roxie. You asked me a question. What was it?” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I shrugged it off, feeling my skin crawl with irritation. I glared. He glared back with equal intensity.

For the first time, I noticed the odd teardrop shaped tattoos under his eyes. 

“What's wrong?” he asked. “Scared of the answer?”

I decided not to dignify that with a response. The dinky elevator music filled the silence. 

With the guy leaving me alone, I disappeared into my thoughts. Dad had been asleep when I got home last night. Mom already tortured me for running off from lunch. She’d followed me around, demanding to know where my car was – since I wasn’t going to drive home under the influence –, and asking me to do stupid tasks, like folding the laundry I swear she only did for that exact moment. 

I wasn’t looking forward to what Dad had in store.

The elevator doors opened with a ding, dragging me out of my head and back to reality. Well, this was it. My moment to shine! 

I stepped out of the elevator, trying to build up my confidence by reminding myself that Dad wasn’t as evil as Mom, and he usually scolded me to get her off my back. I almost expected red-head idiot to follow me out, but when I looked around, he was nowhere to be seen, and the elevator door closed.

There were times when I spaced out enough that I didn’t notice things, but him getting off on a different floor would have caught my attention. Of course, I had no idea why he was there to begin with, but that was beside the point. 

“Roxas, why are you staring at the elevator?” 

The question reminded me that I must have looked like an idiot. I coughed once and shook my head. That weirdo wasn’t important. I turned, smoothing out my suit, and smiled at Dad’s personal assistant, Kairi Takedo. She was always the nicest person. Whenever I came to see Dad, she’d strike up a conversation with me. 

“Just…a weird guy in the elevator,” I muttered.

Kairi cocked her head, but I waved it off. She didn’t need to worry about it. “Well, alright then. Your Dad told me you’d be in today. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Almost a year.” I nodded.

“Senior year at a Twilight Prep is…demanding.” I pushed a piece of my hair out of my face, and I looked at the door hesitantly.

Kairi laughed. “I can only imagine. I’ve heard nasty stories about private schools.” She followed my gaze. “You can go in if you’d like. The door’s unlocked, and he said to come in as soon as you got here.” Dad’s door was unlocked? That wasn’t unnerving. He liked to keep his door locked at all times, saying it kept people from barging in unannounced. 

As I walked over to his office, Kairi’s phone rant. Normally, I wouldn’t pay attention to things like ringing phones, especially since it was none of my business. But what she said was…interesting, to say the least.

“Hello, Cloud Strife’s office, this is Kairi, how may I help you? Axel? Where are you? Mr. Strife is- What? Yes. No. Axel, where are you? Why? Please don’t tell me you’ve gone to bug Ellie and Riku again…. Alright, alright. I’ll let him know.”

See?

Unfortunately, my meeting with Dad kept me from asking her about the phone call. 

Crap.

I opened the door as quietly as I could, trying not to alert Dad to my presence. I moved it so slowly, and so carefully. But, apparently, no one had bothered to oil the thousand-dollar door. Because it squeaked. Squeaked goddammit! You'd think that if Dad could afford a door that costs a thousand dollars, he could afford to buy some oil. And afford to pay someone to fix it. Heck he could probably afford to buy a company to oil doors once a day.

“Good morning,” Dad said, not looking up from his desk. It was covered in papers and folders. “How was your party?”

“Um... fun. Aren't you mad that I took off?” I asked hesitantly.

“Why? You were upset about your friends. Besides, your mother told me all the stories about the chores she made you do when you came home drunk.” He looked up at me with a small grin, and I laughed nervously. “I’d say that’s punishment enough.”

Well, that was a relief. I sat in the chair opposite Dad. “So…uh…this…internship. What exactly am I going to do?” Dad had showed me the ropes of some of the paperwork, but he’d never explained what my job was. So, for all I knew, I was a getting sent to the mail room. 

“Well-”

“Mr. Strife?” Kairi’s voice came on the intercom on Dad’s desk.,

Sighing, Dad pressed a button. “Yes, Ms. Takedo?”

“Ax-I mean, Mr. Lea is here-”

Before Kairi could finish her sentence the door banged open. Only crazy people crashed through Dad’s door like that. Only crazy people barged in unannounced. I wasn’t stupid. I could put two and two together sometimes. Slowly, I turned, and to my shock, more than surprise, a familiar face strolled into the room: the red-head from the elevator.

My jaw dropped.

“Mr. Boss-man!” The guy exclaimed. My father rolled his eyes and muttered “Mr. Strife,” under his breath. The stranger ignored him. “I apologize for my lateness, everyone. There was a small problem on the twelfth floor I had to deal with.” He collapsed in the chair next to me. “Fancy seeing you again, Roxie. I can’t wait to start working with ya.”

Wait, what?

I turned to Dad. “What is he talking about? Working with me how? Who is this guy?” I had much stronger names to call him. 

Dad held up a hand, probably anticipating more questions from me. I fell silent, crossing my arms. “This is Axel Lea, the man I’m training to take over once I retire.” I balked. _This_ guy was Dad’s second in command? “He is also your supervisor.”

Silence claimed the three of us as I stared at Dad in complete shock. I couldn’t believe what he’d said. Well, it was more like I refused to believe it. There was no way this guy was capable of running a business. How did he get a job here anyway? It had to be his parents. I saw it happen with kids at my school. They got a great job because of their name, not their skills. Dad wouldn’t, in his right mind, hire…Axle(?) in his right mind. 

Somewhere, deep down, I knew I was wrong. Dad merited skills over looks and name. Always.

Alex(?) held out a hand. “Well, Roxie, let me finally answer your question from the elevator. My name, as Mr. Boss-man said, is Axel Lea. A-X-E-L L-E-A. Got it memorized? I have an MA in business, and I’ve worked for your dad for three years. Nice to meetcha.”

I ignored his hand and glared at Dad.

“May I speak to you?” I asked, then after a second thought, turned to the red-head and added, “Alone.” Aixle (maybe?) grinned, but stood and trotted out of the room before Dad could say anything. Once the door was closed, I spun around. “Are you _insane_?”

Dad sighed and replied, “Roxas, I know what I’m doing. _He_ knows what he’s doing. If you give him a chance, you’ll see that everything will be fine. You might even come to enjoy his company.”

“No I won’t. That guy-”

“Axel.”

“-reminds me of Hayner. Weren’t you and Mom the ones saying I shouldn’t spend the entire summer hanging out with Hayner? Now you’re forcing me to for possibly the rest of my life. How the hell did he even get a job here?”

“I wasn’t aware that you were the kind to judge people before you get to know them.”

“Dad, the first time I met him, he was listening to screamo music and completely ignored everyone around him, not to mention the fact that he doesn’t seem to understand what ‘dressing nice’ means.” I was furious. I was beyond furious. Pissed actually. I didn't want to be here in the first place, but now I had to work with some weird guy with upside-down teardrop tattoos under his eyes. 

How messed up was that?

“Roxas, do you want to inherit this company?” This was always my dad's threat when I was acting like this, and when I was younger, it worked. Now however...

“No. I don't. I want to go to college. I want to hang out with my friends. You can pass this company onto Alex. I don't care anymore.”

With that, I stalked out of the room. Dad didn't protest, but I could tell he was upset. When I opened the door, Alex (Axe? Axle?) jumped off Kairi's desk and tried to speak, but I shoved past him, heading to the stairs. Behind me, Kairi called out, and I probably should have listened, because she was warning me about the hyper idiot bouncing out of the stairwell.

There was a second when I thought we were going to crash into each other, but the guy, stopped suddenly, looking at me curiously with crystal blue eyes.

“Who is this?” he asked, turning to Kairi and Axe (Ave...Ale...screw it, I'm calling him Red).

“That's Roxie. He's Cloud's son,” Red replied. “It seems he doesn't want to work with me.”

“I don't exactly blame him. I mean, it's you.”

Obviously they knew each other.

“What's that supposed to mean, Sora?” Red sneered, walking over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. I cringed at the touch, but was still too surprised to do much about it. “This kid is just a spoiled brat. I'll knock some sense into him.”

This day just keeps getting worse and worse, were my thoughts as I finally reacted to Red's hand on my shoulder. It was true, of course. I woke up early, really early, and was forced to come to this stupid office where I run into the most ridiculous guy I've ever met in an elevator, then I find out that not only does he work for my dad, I'm going to be working with him soon, then I realize that he has some of the strangest friends, and they all seem to work here.

_There's something wrong with this place._

“Look, person,” I started, not wanting to call him ‘Red,’ “it has nothing to do with you, and more to do with the fact I don't want to be here. So, don't take it personally.” Of course, I was lying, but he didn't know that. Or did he...? It was hard to tell by the expression on his face.

“He’s Cloud's son? I thought he was going to take over the company. Why’s he so short,” the guy named Sora asked. I flinched. I was not short. 5'6 is not short. It's medium height.

As I was fuming, I failed to notice that Sora had moved in front of me, and was now observing my every move. 

“Seriously, how old are you?” he asked me.

Still pissed about being called short, I snapped, “I don't know. Mentally or physically? Because chances are I'm older than you in the first one.” Not a very good diss, I know. Hayner would have been so disappointed in me if he heard that pathetic attempt, but Red and Kairi still laughed.

Sora pondered this for a while, but finally, he said, “I meant physically. I don’t take pride in being mature. I think it makes people sour pusses.” His glare was overturned by the goofy grin spreading across his face. I could picture him sticking out his tongue without a care in the world.

I didn't really want Sora knowing my age, but if I didn't tell him, someone else would.

“I'm eighteen. Happy?” I muttered, crossing my arms. A whistle sounded behind me, but I didn't need to turn around to know it was the red-head.

“I didn't think you were that young. I know you just graduated, but seriously. I thought nineteen, maybe twenty.”

_Well, at least he thought I was older._

Sora looked as though he were about to say something, but the door to Dad's office opened before he could, and out came, guess who? 

My dad. Duh.

“Mr. Sky, why are you here?” he said. 

_Wait a minute, doesn’t ‘Sora’ mean ‘Sky’?_ What a ridiculous name. Talk about repetitive.

“Sorry Clo- Mr. Strife. I was just coming up to see what the commotion was all about. Riku told me that something interesting was happening up here.” Sora let out a nervous laugh, but he had said Riku. That name again. It seemed to me that there was a small clique in my dad's company, and it included the red-head, Kairi, and Sky dude.

_This is reminding me of high school._

“Mr. Finnigan was wrong. There’s nothing interesting happening. Now please return to your job before I get another call from your supervisor.” Dad's tone surprised me. He’d never been so... strict. He didn’t sound like a dirt-bag boss. Just…commanding. Which was weird, because at home he left all that to Mom. Everyone else in the room reacted like it was the most normal thing in the world, however.

“Yes Mr. Boss-man, sir!” Sora exclaimed, saluting Dad. He took off down the stairs before Dad could say anything about the nickname and informal attitude. Dad sighed.

“Roxas, if you’d like to talk more, we can. Otherwise, please let me know your answer before the end of today. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Mr. Lea is incredibly annoying when he’s impatient.” Kairi giggled at the snide remark, and Red scowled.

“I am in the room,” he muttered.

“I'm aware.”

I didn't know what to say. Sure, my feelings about working here were changing pretty much every two seconds, but I still didn't know if I should comply to my parents' wishes or not. I didn't have long to think about it, however, because a certain tattooed freak answered for me.

“He's cool with working with me. Aren't you, Roxie?”

All I could do was blink. Did this guy actually _want_ to work with me?

“Uh….” I knew I would give in eventually. I had nothing else to do with my life. So I nodded. “Yeah. Sure.

Dad looked between us. “Alright. Today, Roxas, you may leave. I just wanted to introduce you to Mr. Lea. Tomorrow, however, you will start learning. Understand?” I nodded, not really paying attention.

I could swear that this guy I was going to be working with had a personality problem. First he’s nice, then mean, then assish, then mean, then nice again. It was like a diamond of emotions that made no sense. Still thinking about this, I waved goodbye to my dad, and headed down the stairs, afraid I would meet another weird person in the elevator.

* * *

“And then he told my dad that I would be perfectly okay working with him,” I said, finishing the explanation of my morning to Olette, Pence, and Hayner. We were at my house, sitting at the poolside with lemonade, a bag of doritos, and nothing to do but talk.

“That guy is messed up. What did you say his name was again?” Hayner asked, munching on a few chips.

“I don't know, Axe, or something like that. All I know, is that he has some weird issues and I don't know how I'm going to work with him.” I snatched the bag from him and rolled it up.

“Roxas, I think you may be over reacting,” Olette mused as she lifted her feet out of the water and watched the liquid drain off of them. “I mean, your dad isn't stupid. He obviously hired this guy for a reason, and he probably thinks it will be good for you to have a role model that you'll be working with for the rest of your life.”

I thought about this for a while as I tried to keep the bag of chips away from Hayner. But maybe Olette was right. Dad did know what he was doing. I mean, he was one of the richest men in the world, so he was obviously doing something right.

Finally, I threw the bag of chips at Pence so Hayner would stop annoying me and turned to Olette. “I guess...but still. That guy is creepy. Really, really creepy. I don't think this is going to go well for me.” Olette rolled her eyes.

“Stop exaggerating. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I mean, sure, you might end up miserable, but you still have us, right?”

I laughed. “Yeah, until you all move away for college, or some other reason. Who'll I lean on after that?”

“Hmm... Well, I suppose you'll make new friends at work. Sora and Kairi don't sound that bad. And you said they mentioned a guy named Riku? Maybe he'll be normal.” She was right, I suppose. Sora, as weird as he seemed, wouldn't be that hard to get along with, same with Kairi, who was always nice to me as it was. The only problem was their age. They were older, and who knew if they’d be interesting in hanging out with an eighteen-year-old.

I didn't get to think about this long, however, as Hayner decided now was the perfect time to ditch the chips and do a cannon ball into the pool, splashing the rest of us with cold water.

Squeals of protest escaped from Olette, and she slipped into the water to try and get revenge, soon followed by Pence. I, on the other hand, did nothing but wipe the water out of my eyes and once again think about how sad things were going to be once Pence and Olette had left for their summer adventures. 

It was two days. We could fill our lives with bundles of fun in two days.

Right?


	3. You know it's going to be a bad day when you fall out of bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember this chapter. I think this was the chapter when I started having a lot of fun. I don't remember how I came up with it, or even why, but I still adore this chapter to this day. It was one of the things I had the hardest time cutting in the rewrite.
> 
> I decided to mostly leave this chapter alone. I fixed some weird wordings, and some typos, but overall it's the same. The other chapters will probably change a bit more than this one because more happens. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! Comments are always welcome. Don't be shy! I only bite sometimes. 
> 
> ~Sune

I hate falling out of bed. I always have. It just seems like everything goes wrong on the days you fall out of your nice, warm, comfy bed and end up on the cold, hard, desolate floor. See, this is how it usually goes. You're in said bed, nice and comfortable, dreaming about butterflies and bunny rabbits (well, I don't) when you are rudely awoken by said floor, not only making you angry that your nice dream is gone, but now you're cold, in pain, and irritated.

Then, you get up, mumbling to yourself about how things never go your way, and that you were about to go to Candy Mountain and eat chocolate (I have _never_ gone to Candy Mountain in my dreams) and suddenly you realize that you have to do stuff today. 

That just makes everything worse.

Not only that, but when you try to get dressed, you're so distracted by your irritation that you put your clothes on wrong, like putting your sock on your hand (not that I've _ever_ done that) or you think your shirt is your pants. This frustrates you to the point of near tears, and when you're finally done, you have to make sure that you aren't actually crying for fear of being made fun of by your best friend (… okay, _maybe_ I've done that). Then, when you try to go downstairs because your stomach is rumbling, you trip on the stairs, falling two flights. Now that you're in even more pain, and your clothes are all messed up, you make your way into the kitchen with a limp, where you spy your mother sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

You say hello, she doesn't hear you, finally, something normal in your day. However, that doesn't last long as when you open the fridge to grab something to eat, you realize there's no food. Then you remember that the fridge died last night, so all of the food has gone bad, meaning you either have to have toast, or nothing. You decide that toast is the best option, however, you don't realize that the bread you want to eat is moldy and you almost puke when you take a bite of the disgusting green parasite type thing (Okay, I admit, I did do that).

In the end, you decide that you would rather not be sick today as you have to deal with crazy people, so you leave the house, your stomach empty and go to start your car. It's dead. The lights had been left on all night so the battery died and you have to jump her. Unfortunately, it takes you an hour to find the cables and get them hooked up to your car, so you're late to work on your first real day.

You decide that you need to get to work as quickly as possible, so you speed down the freeway, making sure not to crash into anyone. Sadly, someone thought you were drunk so they called the cops and told them there was a reckless driver. You, not really paying attention, hear the police sirens, and think they're for someone else, until you realize that you're going 90 in a 75 zone, so you pull over and face an absolutely furious cop.

They demand to see your license and registration. No problem right? Wrong.

Being the smart person you are, you left your house without your wallet, which has your license in it. The cop, being irritable, get's really, really angry and asks you to step out of the car. You oblige, but only because you really don't want to deal with charges of resisting an officer. 

That would be bad.

Then, as you get out of the car, your phone falls out of your pocket, crashes against the pavement, and breaks into four pieces. Four, depressing, little pieces. You try to pick up the pieces, but the officer thinks you're going to attack her, so she grabs your arm, twists it behind your back, shoves you up against the car and tells you you're under arrest. As you're trying to explain that you weren't going to hurt her, she starts to recite your rights, and you decide to shut your mouth.

From there, you're dragged to her car, then to the police station, where you're placed in a cell with some old homeless guy who you find out was arrested for molesting a high school girl. Creepy, but not that bad, until the guy says you look like a high school girl (some people are just weird), so you scoot as far away as possible.

You watch the clock, with one eye still on the molester, as the minutes pass, then the hours, and finally, after almost five hours, you are allowed out of the cell to make your one phone call. It takes every ounce of self-control to not jump out of the cell and kiss the feet of the guards as you escape from the creepy guy and head to the phone. As you stand there, you wonder who you should call.

Your best friend? Nah. They wouldn't bail you out if they were held at gun point.

Your mom? She would kill you.

Your dad? He would tell your mom. Who would kill you.

Your other friends? They're too busy dealing with their own lives.

So, you're stuck calling the only person you know the number of.

Your future business partner.

And that’s how I ended up here, in the county jail, at the phone, dialing Red's number so I can ask him to bail me out.

God I hate my life.


	4. Just because you see a light at the end of the tunnel, doesn't mean it's an oncoming train

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I struggled with tense while I was writing this. 
> 
> It's amazing how much a writing style can change over the years. Half the stuff in this chapter I rolled my eyes at, but thought was brilliant when I was 16. I also remember that I'd add justifications for some of my lines IN the text, to make the reader aware that I knew it was a controversial line and so did the character and BAH. 
> 
> I don't do that anymore. 
> 
> And Ellie. Oh Ellie. How entertaining you are to me. For those who don't know (which is...all of you?) Ellie is an MC of mine that I used as a love interest for Riku throughout my AU's (mostly). I don't really ship RikuxSora (Huge SoKai fan) and I felt like he needed someone. So, I made Ellie, who used to be Xielle, but then her story changed, and all that. I actually RPed as her on Tumblr for a while. But that's besides the point. Ellie is in this, and in the original, a hard ass, stubborn, overly confident lawyer who has no patience for idiots. 
> 
> I'm not really afraid of her running into Mary Sue territory, as tons of people have told me she's not one, but meh. Don't let her turn you off. Roxas and Axel are the MC's :)
> 
> Feel free to comment if you have questions or...whatever!
> 
> ~Sune

_“This is Axel Lea.”_ The deep voice was as annoying over the phone as it was in real life. I sighed.

“It's Roxas....” I didn't know what to say. What could I say? 'Hey, it's your boss' son. I kinda got arrested and I'm too much of a chicken to ask my dad to come bail me out. What? My friends? They're jerks.'

Yeah, that would go over well.

_“Roxie, hello! Why the hell are you calling me?”_

Well isn't he lovely....

“Look, I kinda need a favor,” I said, and of course, I was interrupted.

_“You need a favor?_ You _need a favor? I feel honored, little Roxie. What's up?”_

“Well, I don't really know how to say -”

_“I can't help you if you don't tell me, so just spit it out.”_

I gritted my teeth. There was no way this wouldn’t come out in an embarrassing way. And what would happen to me if Red refused to help me? I couldn't spend the rest of my life in a jail cell with some molesting creep, especially since he thought I looked like a high school girl. I was beginning to wish I had just taken the chance with Dad.

_“Hello? Roxie? You still there?”_

I jumped at the sound of his voice. “Stop calling me that,” were the first words out of my mouth, then, “I kinda got arrested-”

_“Seriously? You need me to bail you out of jail? What about your parents?”_ There was obvious amusement in Red's voice, making me cringe.

“My mom would kill me, and my dad would tell my mom. Both lead to the same result.”

_“So, the little newbie is afraid of his parents. Figures.”_

“Look, will you help me out or not?” I was getting irritated with Red messing with me, and I wanted a definitive answer. However, before anything else was said, I heard a click, and the dial tone.

_He hung up on me…._

I pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at it with disgust. The guard saw that my conversation had ended and lead me back to the jail cell. I tried to reason with him, tell him that the guy I was sharing a cell with was going to try and do something to me, but he just rolled his eyes and pushed me into the cell.

People obviously couldn’t care less about you once you do something stupid. Nice system we have.

Luckily for me, the guy decided that he was going to leave me alone, so I was safe. 

For now.

* * *

Dad was going to kill me. It was my second day of work, and I was already six hours late. That wouldn't be so bad, but I got arrested. For the stupid mistake of not having my wallet. And to make matters worse, there was no way that Red was nice enough to bail me out, especially since I hadn't been very nice to him. I decided that if I survived this, I would be nicer to him. I was stuck working with the guy for…however long.

“Roxas Strife?” The guard called out to me, and I stood up immediately, wondering what was going on. “Your bail has been made. You can leave,” the guy grumbled as he unlocked the door, and made way for me to leave. I just stood there, shocked.

_I can leave? I’m not going to rot in this cell for the rest of my life? Who helped me?_

“Oi. Kid. Get out,” the guard said, seeming slightly amused. I jumped, realizing that this wasn't a dream, and that I was actually free to leave and go face the wrath of my parents. Not that it was much better, but at least now I couldn't be molested...as easily. Dashing out of the cell, I made sure to thank the guard, who just grunted, and walk as quickly as I could to the front of the building, curious to see who had rescued me.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw Red sitting on one of the wooden benches, humming a light tune to himself. I thought for sure the red-head was going to ignore my plea for help and just laugh at me from behind his desk.

When I got closer, the man looked up at me, his face serious. It didn't stay that way for long, though. His expression became completely contorted when he saw me, causing me to remember that I had fallen down two flights of stairs, had to jump start my car, got shoved against said car not an hour later, then was thrown into a disgusting jail cell for the past six hours. I must have looked horrendous.

“Hey Roxie. You certainly look fashionable,” Red snorted when I was close enough to hear him.

Silently, I cursed the man, and I walked past him, acting as though I didn't want to hug him at that moment for saving my life. That would have just freaked him out, and he would have thought I was gay. Which I wasn't. Giving this guy the wrong impression after only meeting him twice would be really, really bad.

“Oh yeah, ignore me. Pretend like I didn't just save you from some creeper who thinks you look like a high school girl,” Red muttered, and I froze.

_How the hell...?_

An awkward silence fell between the two of us, until Red said, “I'm right, aren't I?” My head bobbed up and down, and I wished I could go hide in a hole. Right now, Red thinking I was gay was nowhere near as embarrassing as this conversation.

“How did you know?” I asked hesitantly, afraid to find out the answer. I turned and was surprised to see that Red had turned a light shade of pink.

“Well, you do kinda look like a high school girl, especially your eyes. They're really feminine,” he mumbled, looking away.

_What the hell is what that reaction!_

I was thinking this, of course, but it was kind of in the back of my mind. The thought that was taking up the entirety of my mind was;

_I look like a girl?_

Never, in my entire life, have I been told I look like a girl until today. Why was that? Why had no one, not even my best friend, told me that I had very... feminine features? Maybe Hayner was always hinting at it when we talked about emotional stuff and he kept telling me I remind him of a girl in love. This might’ve been the reason I'd never had a girlfriend for more than a few weeks.

Then again, they always told me that it was because I never paid attention to them, and that I was more concerned about my own life than theirs. Maybe Red and the creepy man from the cell didn’t know what they were talking about. I continued to think about this for a little while, not noticing that I was completely spacing out, until Red waved his hand in front of my face, trying to bring me back to earth.

“Hello? Earth to Roxie? You alive in there?”

I jumped back, realizing that we were no longer in the building, but out in the parking lot.

“How did we get out here?” I asked stupidly, only to be answered with a snort. I mentally slapped myself before adding, “What did you tell my dad before you left?”

Red shrugged as he unlocked his car. Climbing in, I barely noticed the appearance of it, though I could tell it was the same color as Red's (oh, how coincidental) hair, and the interior was made of leather. It was nice, I had to say.

“So, how exactly did you get arrested? The guard wouldn't tell me,” Red asked. “and what's with the appearance?”

I shuddered, not really wanting to think about my horrible morning. “I had a bad morning and was late to work, so I was speeding, got pulled over, and then the cop thought I was going to attack her.”

Laughter emitted from the man sitting next to me, and I turned to glare at him. “You? Attack someone? That's hilarious. You don't look dangerous at all,” he said. The urge to punch the bastard was growing with every word he spoke, but I really didn't want to get into an accident, so I kept my fist balled up in my lap.

“Look, I have not had a good day. So shut up,” I muttered, slouching in my seat.

“Aw, that hurts, Roxie. Don't you like being teased?”

Pushing against my seat, I turned to face him again, disbelief written all over my face. “No. I don't. I don't know anyone who does.”

Red glanced over at me, and smirked. “Well, for me it depends on who it is.”

“What?”

This guy kept getting weirder by the second. First he interrogates me in an elevator, then he decides I'm okay with working with him, even though I'm not, then he bails me out of jail....

“Why did you bail me out?” I asked. When I thought about it, the fact that he would help me was probably the strangest thing ever. It was kind of sweet- _Wait! Where did that come from?_

I mentally slapped myself, _again_ , as Red answered, “I don't know. You sounded pathetic. Also, if Mr. Boss-man ever finds out, I get brownie points.”

I ignored the fact that Red just wanted to get on the good side of my dad. I was expecting that. Instead my thoughts turned to wondering what we were going to tell Dad. After all, there's no doubt that Dad would have been wondering where the hell I had been, and I had a strange feeling that Red hadn't made up a very good excuse when he left the office. A shudder ran thought me at the thought.

An eerie silence fell amongst the two of us for the rest of the ride. It was slightly uncomfortable sitting in the car. I felt as though Red were mad at me for some reason, even though I haven't given him any reason to be. I think.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Red pulled into the parking lot of the company, and my nerves suddenly spiked. I wished I were back in that cell with the creepy molester rather than here, where Dad would find out where I was, then he would tell Mom, and I would be dead. Worse than dead. If that was even possible.

“Why are you just sitting there?”

_Crap! I can't believe I spaced out again. Why do I keep doing that?_ “Sorry, I was just thinking about something....” I trailed off, not really wishing to talk about my doom. It seemed that Red could understand what I was thinking as he didn't inquire any further.

We walked, silently, into the building. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see a young girl sitting behind the desk that had been empty yesterday. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little bit older, with light blond hair that was hanging silkily in the girls face, covering her eyes.

She looked up when she heard the door open, revealing light blue eyes, and a very pretty smile.

I felt myself turn red when I saw her, and I turned away to hide it. Red noticed my reaction and snickered.

“Hey, Naminé!” He called out, smirking at me, “What's up?”

_There is something wrong with my brain today..._ I couldn't help but think as I headed over to the elevator. 

“Well, Mr. Strife isn't very happy right now. He's mad you haven't-”

“Thanks for the update!” Red interrupted her cheerily. I didn't turn back to see her reaction to being so rudely interrupted, and I didn't have much time to think about it as a few seconds later the elevator arrived and the crazy red-head shoved me into it. The doors shut. “Well, well, little Roxie likes little Naminé. Who would have guessed.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” I muttered. It was true. I didn't like the girl, I just thought she was kinda cute. You know how that is. The first time you see someone who's pretty, you can't help but blush. God it's annoying. Especially when other people take it the wrong way.

_She was really cute though._

I smiled at the thought. It had been a while since I had thought a girl was cute, and Hayner was beginning to think I was gay, so I couldn't wait to tell him that I liked someone. That would show him....

Silence. Again. It was getting aggravating how I had no idea what to say to Red. Of course, I had no idea what to say to most people, but talking to the eccentric red-head was... somewhat difficult. Of course, he didn't make it any better with his awkward comments and weird nonsense.

When the door opened on the twelfth floor, Red grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the elevator with no trouble. I stumbled, trying to get my footing, as I was pulled across the room, getting interesting stares from some of the people at desks. I had never been on the twelfth floor before, though I had heard my dad complaining about some woman named Ellie, and Red, Sora and Kairi mentioned Riku who apparently worked down here, so I was kind of shocked to see it was... normal... I guess. Except for the fact that I was being dragged down the hall by a crazy tall person who was smirking. Yeah, completely normal.

“What are you doing!” I hissed, struggling to get out of Red's grasp. “I need to go see my dad!”

“No, first you need to get your 'alibi.'” Red said. “So, we need to go see Ellie.”

Ellie. That name again. I had a feeling that she was going to be a pretty large part of my life now. Dad seemed to hate her, Red seemed to worship her, and Kairi seemed to be good friends with her. Dear God, why do I always meet the weirdest people.

“Who is Ellie?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer. “I've heard -”

“Axel goddammit! Why the hell haven't you given me your report yet and why is Naminé telling me Cloud is pissed that you aren’t in the office, and his son is missing? Please tell me you haven't done anything to him.”

I had a feeling that was Ellie. A woman, maybe in her early twenties came storming out of an office, her light brown hair falling lightly in her golden eyes, which were filled with rage. I couldn't help but try to run away in fear when I saw her storming towards us, but Red still wouldn't let me go, and he wasn't budging.

When she was close enough that Red didn't have to yell for her to hear him, he said, “Oh Ellie, why do you have to be that way? You don't need the report until tomorrow. And why would I do anything to Roxie? He's the one who got himself arrested.”

“Arrested?” That was when Ellie noticed me, “Oh, well don't you look adorable.” I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not because after giving me a once over, she turned back to Red and started yelling at him again.

“Ellie, Ellie, Ellie, let's not go into this right now. Roxie here needs your help, and are you going to resist this pathetic soul who even you, called adorable?”

The woman sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “Fine. You, in my office. Now,” she said, pointing at me, then at her office. Red let go of my hand, but I couldn't move. This woman was...odd, and Red hadn't been in the office today, so I had no idea what was going to happen to me. When I hadn't moved for more than a minute, Ellie let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed my wrist, and I once again was dragged down the hall, into a small office that was so neat, it was blinding.

“What are you-” I tried to ask, but was silenced by Red hushing me.

“Don't try and talk to her while she's focused,” Red whispered to me as Ellie walked over to her desk and began to rummage in one of the drawers, “You might be killed.”

This was getting weirder by the second. I had no idea what was going on, and I had a feeling that Red wasn't exaggerating when he said she would kill me. 

Of course, she could be the sweetest person you'd ever meet, but when stressed because a certain red-head wasn't doing his job as well as he should be, turns into a complete bitch. I hoped that was what she was really like because otherwise, my life would be a living hell soon.

“So,” Ellie stated calmly, typing away at her computer, “the last place you were seen by a relative was when you left the house this morning by your mother who said you looked like you had been hit by a tornado, so that takes care of your appearance.” Ellie muttered, focusing intently on her computer screen. “Why do you look that way?”

I debated whether or not to tell her the truth about my condition, and in the end, decided she would probably find out anyway.

“I fell down two flights of stairs...,” I muttered, looking away. She snickered, as did Red, but said nothing.

“Well, you're clumsy, that helps me a lot.” More typing, more awkward silence. This place was starting to freak me out. Come to think of it, I didn't even know what Ellie did in this company, much less what she was doing for me right now. I really hoped it was something good. Red mentioned an alibi. I couldn't help but think that maybe she was going to get me out of this whole mess.

I was right.

“Okay then, Roxas, Axel, you two are clear. Axel, you called Roxas this morning telling him to meet you at the park near the Alley Way, so you could start teaching him about the business he's gotten himself into. As you were walking in the park, talking, Roxas dropped his phone, and it broke-”

“Wait? How did you know my phone broke?” I asked. It was slightly eerie how both she and Red had guessed something when I had made no mention of it earlier, and I was hoping Ellie wasn't some kind of psychic. That would just be weird.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “You look like shit, dumb ass.” Obviously she had language issues, “It doesn't take an Einstein to guess your phone broke somewhere in the insanity.” She turned back to her computer screen. “Anyway, Axel and you have been walking around downtown all day, and even went to go get lunch. Axel, I assume that while you were ditching work you got food and have a receipt?” Red grinned and nodded.

_So, he was ditching work. I wonder if he does that often._

“Yes, yes I do.”

“Wh-what?” I asked, looking from Red to Ellie. The woman made no inclination that she had heard what Red had said, and my thoughts were beginning to go the psychic route again.

“You're so easy to read sometimes. I do ditch work a lot. I don't like pressure. Got it memorized?” I nodded, not sure what to say.

“Anyway, you two should probably head upstairs now. I hear Kairi’s going insane because Mrs. Strife appeared, frantic, wanting to know where her son had disappeared off to.”

I could imagine that. 

“Alrighty then. Thanks Ellie. I really appreciate this,” I was once again grabbed by the wrist and dragged off, but before Red could get me out of the room, I asked Ellie;

“What is your job here?”

Red stopped moving, realizing that if I didn't get my answer, I would probably get angry, and waited patiently while Ellie typed something. Finally, she said, “I guess you should know seeing as you're going to be the one taking over this place. I'm your dad's lawyer. Everything that has to do with legal shit comes through me, whether I like it or not.”

_That would be why she came up with an “alibi” for me. I only hope she acts nicer in court...._ I had to keep myself from laughing at the thought of Ellie cussing out a judge, before I was dragged away from the room.

“Anyway, now that that's taken care of,” Red said when we were in the elevator again, “I hope you're going to pay me back for bailing you out of jail.” Ah yes, the money.

I turned to him, not particularly wishing to deal with his idiocy. “Why should I? Haven't you already benefited enough from my misery? I mean, you basically got a 'get out of work free' pass and you had amusement from my pain. Why should I pay you back for that?”

“Because I can easily tell your father what really happened.”

“Then he'll know you ditched work.” A smirk spread across my face when I saw the realization of my victory dawn on Red. “I know my father pretty well, and I have a feeling that if he found out you ditched work, you wouldn't last too much longer here.”

Hayner would have been so proud of me. I was never one to give out good threats, but this time, I had Red in a corner. Either he gets his money back, or he gets fired. I had a strange feeling he would rather lose a few bucks then his career.

“You certainly know how to manipulate a situation,” the man hissed as the door opened. He stepped out without another word, and I followed smugly, until I was tackled by my worried mother who went on a rant about being more careful with my phone and not disappearing.

***

It took two hours to calm Mom down, then recite to Dad what Ellie had told me and Red, then convince him it was true. By the time we were done, it was time to go home for the day. I actually wanted to stay in the office. The thought of going back to my bed, the place where all of this madness had started, wasn't exactly appealing to me right now, but Dad said I couldn't stay here in the state I was in. Not good for business or something like that.

He and Mom left before me, however, and as soon as the door to the elevator closed, Kairi started to bombard me with questions.

“So, what really happened today? I know Axel ditched, so there's no way you two were out for a lovely stroll around the park. Did you drop your phone? Were you kidnapped by crazy people and just happened to be saved by Axel? Or maybe you didn't want to deal with your dad today so you pulled an Axel? What was it? What was it?”

The excitement in the woman's eyes reminded me too much of Olette's puppy eyes, so I had to answer.

“I got arrested, this guy bailed me out.”

“Ooh, that's a tough one to get out of. I take it Ellie is the one who got you out of this mess?” I nodded. “Well, you're lucky Axel wasn't in the office today or you would be doomed. I know how Mrs. Strife hates it when you do something bad. Like, remember that one time I was at your house and-”

“Whoa, Kairi, over kill. Let's calm down a bit,” Red said, saving me from embarrassing stories. “You should wait until the others are here.” Not.

“I hate you.” I muttered before turning towards the stairs. “I hate you all.”

Even though I said this, I couldn't help but think;

_Just because you see a light at the end of a tunnel, it doesn't mean it's going to be an oncoming train._


	5. EMO: Extravagantly Made Origami

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter was the most hysterical thing ever when I wrote it. Still makes me chuckle, but damn was I insecure as a writer. Still fun to look back at what you wrote almost a decade ago though! 
> 
> Sorry about not posting for three days? For anyone who cares. Got a PS4 and 2.8, plus college, so life has taken my soul. Two more chapters and I'm going to switch to a chapter or two a week. 
> 
> Don't have much to say! Hope you have fun reading this (if you've gotten this far that is).
> 
> ~Sune

“I can't believe you're leaving,” Hayner muttered, looking down at his feet. “It's going to be so weird without you here.”

We were at the airport, all four of us, saying goodbye to Pence and Olette. It’d been the shortest three days of my life. Yet, also the craziest, if that makes sense. I wished I’d had more time to hang with my friends, instead of the insanity that was my work place. Doing nothing for three days sounded much more fun than dealing with Red.

Life really doesn't like me.

“Oh Hayner. It's not that bad. I mean, you're going to see us during winter break,” Olette said. She made to grab his hand, hesitated, and returned it to her side. 

_Ugh. Their sexual tension is exhausting. I wish they’d just do it already._

I exchanged a glance with Pence and could tell he was thinking the same thing. I just wanted those two to get together already. Then we can all move on with our lives.

“Well, we have to get going, don't we, Olette,” Pence suddenly said, startling the two infatuated teens. “I know that leaving these two is bad, but it would be worse if we missed our flights and had to pay for another one.”

A smile played at my lips. Pence was always the most sensible out of all of us, not having been struck by love (Olette and Hayner) or stuck in an impossible situations (me).

“You're right... I guess,” Olette muttered. She placed her bag on the ground and quickly hugged me, then Hayner. “I'll try and come back before summer's over and my classes start, but I can't guarantee anything. I will be back for Christmas no matter what though, so be prepared to see me in December!” There were tears in her eyes as she backed off. Pence muttered something along the same lines as Olette, though he didn't cry.

And then they left. Hayner and I watched them walk side by side down the hall toward security, and I had a nagging feeling that the next time I saw them, things would be very different on both of our ends.

Once the two were out of sight, Hayner and I headed out of the airport, and to my car. I had been so happy to get my car back. When I saw her sitting in the parking lot after my hellish day a week ago, I realized that Ellie could perform something close to miracles. My parents would never know that I had gotten in trouble with the law, even though pretty much everyone else did.

But that was behind me, and now, I was sitting in my car, my best friend by my side, listening to awesome music as we sped through the morning traffic. What more could I ask for?

Not what happened.

Hayner suddenly reached across his seat and turned off the music, before saying, “Dude, I'm feeling depressed. I'm going to hang out with you at work.” I was about to say that it wouldn't be a good idea, but Hayner turned the music on again, drowning me out, so I gave up.

Red and Hayner are going to meet each other.... This was going to be interesting. I couldn't help but think that they weren't going to get along at all, and that my life today was going to be total hell, again, but then again, if Hayner and Red didn't like each other, then I wouldn't have to deal with my best friend associating with my business partner. That would be nice.

I pulled into the parking lot, and was surprised to see that there weren't many cars there. Then again, it was noon, so everyone was probably out getting lunch or doing something that they wouldn't normally be allowed to do at work. I shuddered thinking of all the things that could be done. It wasn't pretty.

“So, do you have VIP parking, or are you one of the low people on the totem pole?” Hayner asked me suddenly.

“Um... my dad is the CEO. What do you think?”

Sadly, this question seemed to be rather difficult for him to answer, so I gave up and parked as far away from my original spot as possible. That would screw with him.

* * *

“Roxie! There you are. I thought your little friends had kidnapped you.”

This was Red's greeting when Hayner and I walked in the door to the building. He was sitting on Naminé's desk, talking to her, but when he saw us, or, to be more accurate, me, he slid off, and headed over to us, grinning.

“You are not going to believe the situation,” Red practically chirped grabbing me by the shoulder, and steering me towards the stairs. “You've heard of Riku, right? Well, he's been home sick for a week, and showed up today for no good reason. But he's doped out on cough medicine. It's hilarious!” 

As interesting as an accountant high on cough medicine sounded, I was too distracted by the fact that Red was, yet again, dragging me around, and touching me so informally. Normally, I wouldn't care. I had kind of gotten over Red's weird boundary issues (once again, kinda), but this was not something I wanted Hayner to see.

_I should have just kicked him out at his house._

“Look, um... Alex-”

“Axel,” the man coughed, obviously irritated I hadn't gotten his name right, once. I ignored him

“-I really don't have time for this. You see, my friend-”

“So this is the crazy red-head you were telling me about.” Irritation. Hayner's voice was filled to the brim with it. Not a good sign. Being ignored, watching your best friend be man handled by some guy, and being depressed were not a good list of irritants you wanted Hayner to have all at once. Especially not after nine in the morning.

It was so awkward in the room after Hayner spoke. He and Red were having a stare down, causing yet another awkward situation between us. This was getting really annoying.

Suddenly, Red held out his hand, breaking the tension. “Well, it’s nice to meet you…” he trailed off, waiting to hear what name he should be calling the sandy haired boy.

“Hayner,” he said, taking Red's hand. “Hayner Mural.” They both smiled.

Oh. Dear. God.

They're going to get along!

I was not expecting that. It was practically the worst thing that could ever happen. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but still. This could not end well.

“Um, Axel?” Naminé's sweet voice called from her desk. I smiled at the sound, glad that there was some jewel in the hell hole of my job. 

“Yes Naminé?” Red replied, interrupting my thoughts.

“Well, I was wondering if we could... you know, finish our conversation before you go running up to make fun of Riku. It's very important, you know.” She smiled at, me, I think. It was hard to tell with her talking to Red, but I couldn't help but think she was looking at me when she flashed that beautiful smile, and it caused me to blush.

Damn hormones.

Hayner nudged me, nodding his head towards Naminé, asking silently if she was the girl I had told him about. I nodded, unable to hide the smile on my face, and Hayner punched me in the arm. Either he was making fun of me, or he was congratulating me. I couldn't tell. Either way, he was going to be interrogating me about this later. It would be a lot of fun. 

Not.

“Hello? Earth to Roxie.”

I looked up, rubbing my arm, “What?”

“Riku. High. On cough medicine. Let's go!”

“Wait, what about your conversation with Naminé-”

“Done, done and done. Let's go!”

Then I was being dragged around, again. It was really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, annoying. Did I mention just how annoying it was?

So we headed to the elevator, well, I was more pushed to it by Red, and Hayner followed. And then I was stuck in the middle of Red – who had his arm wrapped tight around me – and Hayner. They wouldn’t stop talking. Asking each other questions. Getting along. 

I was incredibly uncomfortable. 

Finally, we reached the twelfth floor. Red let go of me, thank God, before striding out with confidence.

“Dude, that guy is awesome. I don't get why you don’t like him,” Hayner said to me as we followed Red down the hall toward Ellie's office. I wasn't quite sure why we were going to see her, but I didn't think too much of it, as I replied to Hayner;

“He's just...weird. I don't know. He could be cool, I guess, but I have to work with him.” I let out a sigh before continuing, “I just don't know if he actually knows what he's doing.”

Hayner didn't say anything to this, and I could feel a tense air rising between us, confusing me greatly. Did I just say something to offend him?

“You actually like working here, don't you?” Hayner asked after a moment. 

I turned to him, ready to protest, but hesitated. It hadn’t been too long, but…yeah, I kinda did like working for my dad. Sure, the people were weird when Dad wasn't around, and sure, but I wasn't as unhappy as I thought I would be. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this before. 

“Dude, Roxas, you have got to stop spacing out like that.” 

I jumped, not realizing that I hadn't been paying attention, and that we were at Ellie's office door already. Red was grinning madly, obviously excited to see this Riku guy high. I couldn't understand why, however, as seeing someone high was not as fun as someone may think. Hayner certainly wasn't that funny when he was on something. It was then I realized Hayner was waiting for an answer to his non-rhetorical question that I had been ignoring.

“Yeah. I guess I do,” I said, ignoring the strange look I was getting from the tall red-head.

“Thought so.”

I couldn't understand why Hayner seemed so pissed off. I mean, it wasn't a crime to like your job, was it? So what if I was happy with the fate that had been forced upon me, at least I wouldn't become all depressed. Then again, it's possible that's what Hayner wanted, for me to be depressed, so he wasn't alone in that category.

Suddenly, I felt like a bad friend.

The feeling passed quickly.

Red was about to open the door, but it slammed open before he could even reach the handle, and Ellie came storming out, her fists clenched, eyebrows knitted, and a scowl etched onto her face. Now normally, Ellie was calm, though she had a nasty choice of language, and very full of herself. Right now, she was distracted and irritated, so much so, in fact, that she nearly crashed into Red on her way out of her office. However, she stopped, right before she hit him, and looked at the three of us standing in front of her doorway.

A demented grin spread across her face. “That man, is a legal risk. I need him to get the hell out of here.” Her eyes were blazing now, looking like golden flames of irritation, and for some reason, I had a feeling she was talking about Riku. That would explain why Red had brought me and Hayner here, though how he knew Riku would be here was lost to me. I also hoped that Ellie wasn't always like this around Riku, because truthfully, she was scaring the shit out of me.

“Oh, Ellie. It can't be that bad. I mean, how-”

“I'm going to find Sora and tell him to get his fucking friend out of here before he causes someone to get hurt. I just finished the paperwork from when Marluxia and Larxene were here and I don't want another huge project waiting for me.” Without waiting for Red to say anything, the woman brushed past me and stormed off, leaving a fearful trail behind her.

Hayner and I exchanged glances, then looked at Red. I was only somewhat surprised to see him smiling like a fool.

“This is going to be very, very interesting.”

Pushing open the door, which had closed slightly when Ellie mad let go of it, we saw a very... interesting scene.

There was a man in there, whom I assumed was Riku, sitting in the window sill, staring out the window. His long, silver hair was a mess and cast a shadow over his eyes, and he seemed to be muttering to himself about something. He was wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt, but other than that, I didn't see what kind of legal risk he was. He was just sitting there, not even bothering to look up when the door opened, which he obviously heard because it was squeaky (again with the non-oiled doors. Seriously, Dad?). Why would that bug Ellie?

Suddenly, the man looked up, his sea-blue eyes staring us down intensely, but filled with Sorrow.

“She hates me,” he whispered, “I made her hate me.”

Uh...

“Now I don't know what to do. I was hoping she wouldn't hate me so much, but she does. Why is that, Axel?”

Yeah, I was really confused. This was Riku? The guy who Sora was always raving about, the guy Kairi said was really hot-headed, though not as much as Sora. This was Riku?

Next to me, Red took a step forward, obviously trying very hard not to laugh, and said, “I don't know. What did you do to her?”

“I came here. And then I....” He thought for a moment. “Huh, I don't remember.”

It was then I remembered he had been sick for the past week and was on medicine. I couldn't help but marvel at how stupid I could be sometimes. Red and Riku continued to talk, when Hayner poked me in the shoulder.

“Dude, this guy is really emo...,” he said, his eyes wide with amazement. “I think he even beats my mom when she gets into a slump.” I snorted at the comparison, but unfortunately, this attracted the attention of Riku, who seemed to think I was laughing at his misery. I guess you could say he was kind of right.

“You're not very nice, you know that?” Riku stood up, his expression suddenly one of anger, rather than sadness. “I'm in love with that woman but she hates me, and it's all your fault. All because you laughed at me.”

_So, Riku has a thing for Ellie.. this should get interesting._

“I think Ellie was mad at you before I showed up,” I said nervously, taken back by how tall Riku actually was. Sitting down, he seemed to be normal, maybe five seven or five eight, but now I could see that he was almost as tall as Red, who towered over me. Suddenly, things seemed a lot scarier. Luckily, a cheery voice sounded from behind me, and I recognized it as Sora.

“Riku! Come on. I'm going to take you back to your house. Ellie's afraid you're going to hurt someone.” Riku's face fell at the sound of Ellie's name coming from Sora. He sat down again, his sorrow suddenly returning, causing Red to snicker. I hoped that Riku would freak out on Red, like he had on me, but no. I was just so special that I got attacked for no reason.

_This guy is so weird,_ I thought to myself, then remembered, _Cold medicine...._

Sora pushed past me, not at all stunned by his friend’s actions. I had a feeling he was used to this. “Come on, you lazy bum. Ellie will stop being mad at you if you come with me. Okay?” Riku cheered up a bit at Sora's words, and he stood up.

“We’ll come too,” Red chided, patting Riku on the shoulder, “To, you know, help.”

Yeah. Right. I was 100% sure Red didn’t want to go “help.” He was probably only going to make fun of-

_Wait! Did he say we?_

* * *

So, I thought Riku was a messed up person before, but now, sitting in his living room, I was completely convinced this guy was insane. Not just crazy, but insane. Insane! I don't think I can stress that enough.

The apartment was fairly small, and nice looking. There was one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a sitting area, where I was, and it was extremely neat.

Except for the hundreds of origami lying around the place.

Swans, flowers, frogs, dogs, balloons, you name it, it was there. All lying on the floor like large confetti, or multicolored snow. Neither would have fit with the black leather couch, dark flat screen TV, books and CD's, and a sword collection that littered the living room, creating a rather depressing (or relaxing feel I guess...) in the apartment.

“I'm beginning to see why you complain about your work so much,” Hayner said suddenly, picking up a paper rose. “This guy’s weird.”

“He is, but I've never met him before, so I'm just as shocked as you are about this whole...ordeal.”

Suddenly, a knife flew over Hayner's hand, just barely missing his fingers, and dug into the wall near the window. Both of us jumped, Hayner letting go of the flower he was holding, and stared in shock at Riku, who was standing in the kitchen doorway, his hand out. I should have guessed this, but who knew Riku could throw knives...?

“Don't touch the origami!” The man hissed, straightening up. From the kitchen, I heard Sora exclaim, “Oh shit! Riku don't throw knives at your boss' son!”

“Emo...,” Hayner muttered in my ear. “That guy is like, the definition of the word.” If I had found my voice, I would have agreed with Hayner, but at that moment I was too caught up trying not to freak out.

It was then Red came into the apartment. I heard him shout from the doorway, “Uh, Riku? What's with all the origami?”

“I was bored. Being sick is boring, you know, so I looked up things to do when you’re bored and it came up with paper folding. It's so much fun! I didn't even know there were so many things you could fold before last week, but now, I'm a master at everything. Everything!” Riku let out a maniacal laugh, which turned into a coughing fit. 

“Alrighty then, Riku. I think it's time for you to go to sleep,” Sora said, rolling his eyes and pushing Riku towards the bedroom. Riku tried to protest in a whiny voice, but Sora silenced him with a smack over the head. “No. Seriously, Riku. Go to bed! I don't want to have to babysit you all night. Kairi and I have a date. Now go, before I get Axel to help.”

Riku muttered something, but obliged, heading to his bedroom and slamming to door shut behind him. The four of us who were left all looked at each other, before Hayner asked, “Is he always so emo?”

We all laughed at that. Quietly though, so Riku wouldn't come out again.

“No. Not usually. I mean, he went through a phase like that during high school, but he got better when he was seventeen I think.” Sora said, collapsing on the chair near the T.V. “He's just messed up because of his medicine.”

“That's good.” I muttered finally finding my voice. Three pairs of eyes turned to me questioningly. “Well, if I had to deal with Riku when he acted like that every day, I’d get…irritated.”

“I agree,” Red added, smirking at me, “Emoness is just not something I would want around the office all the time.”

“You know,” Sora said, “I don't think I know what emo means. What do you guys think.”

_Um... that's not random at all._ But Sora had a point. What did “emo” mean?

“I think it has something to do with emotions.” Hayner said in a brilliant moment. “Think about it. Emo. Emotions. What do you think?”

I watched Red ponder this for a moment, “Hm... well, it could be short for 'emotional.'”

“That makes sense!”

This was too much for me. Red and Hayner were having probably the stupidest conversation on in the world, and I really didn't want to listen to it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to yell at them, because Sora decided to pick that moment to say something;

“Hey, guys,” he grinned as he said this, holding up a purple and gold paper crane, “What if EMO stands for 'extravagantly made origami?'”

We all burst into laughter.


	6. When I said, "I'd hit that," I meant with my car

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> I forgot so much about this story. Like, damn! Axel's parents...heh. Anyway, here's the next chapter! I remember when I had all the time in the world to do this. You know, back in high school when I didn't do homework. Kinda more difficult now that I do my work like a good student. 
> 
> This chapter was fun for me. I always did enjoy writing Axel and Roxas just hanging out together without the other characters. I mean, I love the other characters, but this was more entertaining.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Sune

The first time I was in the car while Red was driving, it wasn't that bad, probably because I was still getting over getting arrested. The second time was a bit worse, but I assumed it was because he didn't want to miss Riku acting weird.

Then there was the third time.

I refuse to get in the car with Red now.

He is absolutely terrifying behind the wheel. How he got his license is a complete mystery to me, and to a few others in the office as well. Kairi told me that he has a knack for hitting things, just randomly, while he's driving, so I should always wear my seat-belt.

So, the third time I drove with him was about two weeks after the whole incident with Riku. Riku isn't as weird as I first though. Apparently, he's actually quite cool when he's not high on cough medicine, though his long hair still scares me. 

Anyway, we were heading out of the building with orders from Da– er, Mr. Strife (I'm not supposed to call Dad, Dad, during work hours, how messed up is that?) to pay a surprise visit to one of the hotels in the area, you know, so I can get used to inspections and what not, and I pulled out my keys to take my car. As soon as my keys left my pocket and made a small noise, Red grabbed my hand, and gave me a stern glare.

“I don't trust your driving skills. I'll take the wheel,” he said, grinning, and I felt myself go red. Which was weird. Why I was feeling embarrassed by that sentence is still something of a mystery to me. I mean, it's not like he has a good reason to trust my skills, after all, the only time Red has heard anything about my driving skills was when I got arrested. It's only natural that he wouldn't trust his life in my hands.

I shook off the thought, and pulled my hand away from his, pocketing my keys promptly. “Fine. I don't care.” That was a lie. I did care. I hated not driving, but I had a feeling that Red wasn't going to let me, no matter what I said or did, and I really didn't feel like getting into a fight with him. Too annoying.

Red grinned and we headed over to his car, which I had to admit, I was kind of jealous of, and didn't mind riding in.

“So, you excited to finally get to see one of the hotels you're going to own?” Red asked me as he started up the car. I rolled my eyes, buckling my seat-belt and slouching.

“I've stayed in these hotels before. I know what they look like.”

“You haven't seen the back, now have you Roxie?”

Again, my eyes rolled. “Yes I have. My dad's taken me back there. And will you stop calling me Roxie? That got old a while ago.”

“Hm...no can do.” The car rumbled as Red pulled out of the parking lot, and I could tell he was smirking. “It's your nickname. You can't just ask me to stop calling you that.”

“Really? Cuz' I think I just did- holy shit!”

I fell sideways, crashing into the car door as Red swerved out of the parking lot and onto the street with a speed so horrifyingly fast, I was surprised the wheels stayed on the pavement. Recovering from the heart attack I just had, I gripped the edge of my seat, watching Red speed towards the highway at annoyingly fast speeds. Two thoughts flashed through my head at this point.

1) Red is a fucking hypocrite.  
2) I'm going to die.

“O-O-Oi! Slow down!” I managed to get out after a few seconds of terror. “You're going to get us killed!”

In response to this, Red pressed harder on the gas pedal, speeding up even more, and I could swear that all the color drained from my face.

“Seriously!”

“Sorry, _Roxie_ , I like speed,” he laughed, taking one hand off the steering wheel so he could pat me on the head. Instinctively, my hand shot up to knock his away, and I yelled at him to stay focused. Sadly, he took this as a challenge and took his other hand off. “This is pretty easy, you know. I can’t imagine why you're so freaked out. I mean, didn't you get arrested for reckless driving and speeding?”

“Shut up! That was different. I was late for work. You have no reason to be doing th-” I was silenced by the sudden skidding noise we made as Red pressed down on the brake. How his brakes and tires were still in working condition, I would never know. We were at a stop light now. Completely stopped, so I decided to try and talk some sense into the stupid red-head while I wasn't trying to hold on for dear life.

“Look, you're going to get pulled over, and we don't have time to deal with the police.”

“Roxie, I have _never_ been pulled over. For anything. I'll be fine.” As reassuring as his voice sounded, I wasn't convinced. But what could I do? I was stuck riding shot gun....

The light turned green and Red took off again, driving just as recklessly as before.

And my hatred for him grew stronger.

We were silent for about five minutes as Red made his way through the confusing streets of downtown Radiant Garden, heading toward the highway, and I enjoyed the silence. Kind of. Normally, I would have tried to start a conversation, as I hate awkward silences, but it was Red, and I was scared, so I was content to just sit there and watch as Red pulled off stunts I had only seen in movies. I had a feeling his car looked really cool from the air.

Finally, Red pulled onto the highway, driving even faster than before, and we sped south towards the small town of Hallow Bastion.

“So, now that we're going to be on the open road for a while, why don't we talk. After all, we're going to be spending a lot of time together. It's best we get to know each other.” Red said almost mockingly. 

I didn't want to talk about my life, but he was right. Unfortunately. In the three weeks I had known the crazy man, I had learned almost nothing about him, other than he was born and raised in Radient Garden. It's amazing how you can live in the same town as someone for eighteen years and never see them.

“Fine,” I muttered, still gripping the armrest of my seat. I slouched in my seat, hoping that the two hour drive to Hallow Bastion wouldn't be _too_ bad. And that we wouldn't get pulled over.

“Alright then, let's make this a game. I'll ask you ten questions first, then you ask me any ten questions you want, and we trade off.” Great. “Hm... where were you born?”

“Here.”

“Okay, have you ever moved?”

“No.”

“Do you have any siblings.”

“No.”

“Pets?”

“No.”

“Friends?”

“Obviously.”

“You do realize that your answers can be more than one word,” the man asked, a hint of irritation in his voice.

“I know. I just don't feel like it. And that's six questions.” I was causing him to become frustrated, which I wasn't quite sure was a good thing, but it made me happy. Anything to get back at the jerk.

“Fine. What high school did you go to?”

“Twilight Prep.”

“Really? I've heard it's a good school.” I was about to answer his 'question,' but he cut me off before I could. “That's not one of my questions. Now then, do you have any relatives?”

I had to think about this for a second. Neither of my parents kept in touch with their families. “My grandparents are dead on both sides, and I don't have any uncles or aunts,” I finally replied.

“Huh. Small. You don't usually see that in a rich family.” I had to wait for Red's next question as he changed lanes, without looking, mind you. “So, what do you think of this job so far?”

I shrugged, not sure how to answer. Sure, I hated having to be there with a burning passion, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. “Well, most of the people are nice, with the exception of you and Ellie,” Red scoffed at this statement, but I ignored him, “and I don't feel like I want to die every time I walk in there, so I guess it's okay.”

“You really think I'm mean?” Red sounded hurt when he said this, though it was hard to tell as he swerved suddenly into another lane, causing me to crash into the door again. It's difficult to tell how someone says something when you're being crushed against a wall.

“Yes and no,” I answered, rubbing my arm, “You can be an ass, but you're not as bad as some people I've met. You're average. That's ten.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Your turn.”

I wasn't looking forward to this part. Answering questions about myself wasn't that hard, but coming up with questions to ask other people was just weird to me. But, I had to do it. I wouldn't put it past Red to come up with some way to get back at me for not completing my part of the “game.”

“Okay, um...what are your parent's names?”

“Xemnas and Saïx. And before you ask, they're both guys.”

So he was raised by gay dads. That made sense. “Where do you live right now?”

Again, he smirked. “In downtown Radiant Garden. I share an apartment with Sora because he's pathetic and didn't want to live alone.”

I desperately wanted to ask if they were dating, but I figured the answer would be no, seeing as Sora fawned over Kairi. “What high school did you go to?” I wasn't being very creative.

“Didn't. I was home schooled, then took my GED when I was fifteen.” Fifteen! Was this guy a genius or something? Of course, that was my next question. Red laughed at me. “I'm twenty five, and have a masters in business. How many people do you know who can say that? Yes I'm a genius.”

Well, he certainly wasn't humble. “What do you do when you're not busy working?”

“Depends. I read, or listen to music, sometimes I jam on the piano. But most of the time, I play with fire.” Oh great. A pyro. Just what I needed in my life. But I wasn't aware that he played the piano. I would not have guessed that from looking at him. “Five left.”

“Um...what about your family? Do you have any?”

“Well, I was adopted, so I don't know anyone in my 'real' family, but my dads have tons of relatives. I have a total of six uncles, a cousin, and one aunt. Confusing, I know.”

“Are they all uncles and... an aunt?”

“Nah. Some of them are actually second cousins or something like that, but I hate calling them that, so I stick with aunt and uncles. Two questions left.”

Two? I couldn't have sworn I had three left, but then I remembered that I technically asked two questions in one. I was hoping that he would forget about that, as I was starting to have fun with this, but he was obviously getting back at me for counting his stupid question about my question length. “Alright...um....” Suddenly, I got a bright idea. “Why do you call me Roxie?”

A smirk wormed its way onto Red's face, and he completed yet another dangerous lane change.

“Because Roxas is too serious. Roxie is a cute name, and it fits you.”

_Um...._

_Did red just call me cute?_

_What the fuck?_

This is the question I wanted to ask, or at least something along those lines, but for some reason, I didn't ask that question. Instead, I inquired, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Why I asked that, I have no idea. I wasn't even thinking about girlfriends, or dating, just the fact that Red had called me cute. Where the hell did that come from?

I wanted to desperately escape from the car, and chances were, I would have jumped out if Red hadn't been going over a hundred miles an hour. I was so embarrassed, but at the same time, I knew I shouldn't be.

Asking someone whether they have a girlfriend is a legitimate question. I couldn't tell why I was internally freaking out so much over this, and the fact that I was, nearly made me laugh out loud. Fortunately, I had no more time to think about this, as Red finally answered the question I was regretting.

“No.”

That was all he said. No. There was no long explanation like for the other questions, no joking around with me, asking random questions about my love life.

He just said no.

That wasn't odd at all.

And to make matters worse, he didn't say anything else.

For the rest of the trip.

I tried to make conversation with him, but he ignored me, doing some random and crazy stunt to get me to shut up. That wasn't like him at all. I mean, I've only known this guy for a week, but every time I saw him, he tried to talk to me. About the strangest things even. But one question from me about his love life, and he closes his mouth for an hour and a half.

This guy couldn't get any weirder.

Could he?

* * *

 

Hallow Bastion was much like Radiant Garden, only it wasn't quite as rich. I had only been there once before, and it was a long time ago, back when I was like, five, so I was kind of shocked at how similar it was to my hometown. The streets, the formation of the buildings. It was very strange.

“Here we are,” Red said, startling me with his sudden ability to speak. He pulled, dangerously, into the parking lot of the new hotel. It was the nicest building in the neighborhood, sticking out like a sore thumb, and I felt somewhat embarrassed to be here. Being in Red's car, driving into a nice hotel parking lot, was like saying to the rest of the world, “I have money, I'm special, everyone be jealous.” And as true as the first one was, I, in no way, felt special.

Especially not after being ignored for an hour and a half by a normally talkative guy.

“So, what exactly are we going to do here?” I asked, not sure if Red would answer me.

“Something Cloud likes to call a surprise inspection.” Red seemed to be back to normal, talking with his normal haughtiness. “Basically, we go in, talk to the manager of this place, check to see if there have been any complaints, and also, to see if the hotel is up to the standards of this area.”

“Alright, that doesn't sound too hard.”

“It's not. But you have to know how to do it.”

We got out of the car, and I was happy to be on land again. We walked into the building, as Red chattered away about random things. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, more worried about his sudden inconsistent attitude, but after we actually got into the building, Red had to shut up as we were greeted by a peculiar man.

“Why, Axel, how nice of you to drop by. I was expecting you a few days ago, if not longer,” the man droned, pushing a lock of blue-gray hair out of his face. He stared at us with his blue eyes, waiting for a response from the red-head next to me.

Red let out a laugh. “How did you know we were going to be coming down here, Zexion?”

“I heard that Mr. Strife's son was finally joining the business, so naturally, I assumed you would be bringing the brat down here to visit. Of course, I didn't realize it took three weeks to complete such a simple task.”

“Roxie isn't a brat. A bit annoying at times, but not a brat.”

“Hey!” I protested when Red called me annoying. It was him, who was irritating, not me. Even Kairi and Naminé agreed with me on that.

“Sorry, Roxie, but it's true. You can be really annoying sometimes,” Red said, placing one hand on my shoulder. “Anyway, how about showing little Roxie here around the building? I have some business to attend to.”

He ruffled my hair, much to my frustration, and I swatted his hand away, and he laughed at me.

* * *

Two hours later, I was back in Red's car, and not a happy camper. Dealing with Zexion had not been easy for me, seeing as he resented me. Probably because of my dad. Dad and Zexion didn't seem to be the type to get along. Not to mention the fact that every time I mentioned Dad, the blue eyed man cringed and seemed to want to murder me. That was not fun at all.

“What was this business you had to take care of?” I muttered, crossing my arms. Not only was I irritated because of Zexion, but Red had refused to let me drive. So, I was stuck in the passenger’s seat, again, while Red got to drive all crazy like again.

This day was so not going my way.

“Oh, nothing much. Now. Should we finish our game?”

The car rumbled to life, and I clenched onto the seat, just in case.

“Finish our game? You mean the question thing? Why should we? You're the one who went all silent after a single question,” my voice was harsh with accusation, hoping to guilt Red into shutting up, or letting me drive, but the red-head just laughed.

“Yeah, sorry 'bout that. You kinda startled me with the question, and it brought back memories I didn't really want to think about it.”

Well, I guess that made more sense than what I was thinking.

A lot more sense.

You don't even want to know what I was thinking.

“Fine. I'll go first this time.” Secretly, I was happy to be doing this, but I was never going to let Red know that.

“Ask away, Roxie.”

“Don't call me that. And why are you such a bad driver?”

Red laughed some more, almost as if he wasn't expecting me to ask that question. But I did, and I was expecting an answer. “Well,” he began, “I didn't use to be a bad driver. For a while, I was very safe when I was behind the wheel. Then came the day when I had an interview with your dad. That was an interesting day. Anyway, on my way here, I had a bit of... an accident.”

“An accident? What kind of accident?”

“A car accident, obviously. Twenty-two years old, and I got into a minor accident. Ever since then, I've had the worst luck with cars and hitting things. Well, only when I drive like a civilized person.”

“Um... okay then.”

“It's true! Do you not believe me?”

“No. Not really.”

Red smiled, leaning back in his seat. “It's okay. You will eventually.”


End file.
